A Heidelberg Holiday

There were so many things to love about this film. I loved the sharing of both German and American Christmas traditions, I loved seeing a German Christmas market, loved the sights in and around Heidelberg, and I loved that things weren't all perfect...with creativity being born out of what was a tragedy. This is such a wonderful way to celebrate Hallmark's keepsake ornaments' 50th anniversary, by doing a holiday romance about an ornament maker!

Heidi Heidelberg is an ornament maker and her dream is to sell her ornaments in her family's home town Christmas market in Heidelberg, Germany. Her family has a wonderful story about how her family helped build the Heidelberg castle, traveling a long distance with supplies like the columns. Unfortunately, years of rejection letters paper her workroom wall...until this year someone drops out of the market one week in and she is invited to sell her ornaments. Heidi, with the help of her family, jumps at the chance to fulfill her dream.

Unfortunately, other than the sample ornaments she flew with...her ornaments are delayed in arriving. Thanks to her grandmother's hometown connections she is staying with a lovely German family with a legacy of woodworking, and how she meets the handsome wood artist Lukas. Lukas helps Heidi with the more laidback German sales approach, convincing her to do pre-sales until her ornaments arrive.

There are a series of encounters with the very efficient German Post, which lends a lot of the comedy to this film...and I can personally vouch for being more efficient than our local post office or UPS.

This was absolutely wonderful and I really enjoyed it. As a romantic, I like the slow build relationship and the romance of the gorgeous German Christmas backdrop. But what really made this special were the small family moments shared at home with the German family and their American guest...including the romantic ones like the chocolate given to someone you have a crush on.

This really may be my favorite of all the Hallmark Holiday films I have ever seen (and I have seen a lot!), but it is for certain my favorite of 2023. I highly recommend this to both romantics and fans of both Christmas and German Christmas traditions. (There were definitely some German Christmas traditions missed...but I am not complaining, the film was great!)

Your average made-for-television festive flick.

'A Heidelberg Holiday' doesn't bring major Xmas feeling though, it didn't feel as Christmassy as I'd want via my personal liking but what is produced is close enough. The German aspects are cool, especially for an American-made movie.

I thought the 'delayed delivery' side of the story was gonna pack more of a punch than it did, I was getting magical elf worker vibes but maybe that was my imagination expecting too much from a flick of this kind. The cast, meanwhile, all blend into one in my memory to be honest, Ginna Claire and Frédéric Brossier are alright leads mind.

Heidi Heidelberg has the opportunity to sell her Christmas ornaments at a very popular festive market in Germany, the country from her ancestors. There she meets Lukas, whose family is providing her accommodations. While there, her Oma (grandmother) gave her a mission to go to places she used to go in her youth.

I really liked this movie. All movies placed in Europe have a charm to it, specially If they truly are based there. I felt like this movie had a lot going on. But I think it worked: the ornaments, the tour, and even the family moments.

There was a little nod to the Hallmark movies at the beginning. One of the characters said that his countdown to Christmas starts at the end of October. Blink and you miss it. The leads had good chemistry and so did the rest of the cast.

Worth the watch.

This was really good. I've loved Ginna Claire Mason since seeing her as Glinda in Wicked so it's great to see her in Hallmark Christmas movies. She's still a little green but worked really well with Frederic and the other actors. I like that Hallmark is investing in location shoots for these movies, especially for lesser known actors. The German backdrop was stunning and I love that this was cast locally and incorporated German traditions. Also appreciated the bilingual dialogue with subtitles.

I wasn't crazy about how they resolved the missing ornament issue and I wanted a bit more from the ending. What's next for Heidi? But other than that, this is a winner that I'll rewatch again.

Also note to Hallmark: There are lots of talented Broadway actors out there. Please spread the casting love because this is a trend I'd like to see continue.

In the beginning, Heidi is the typical American who is too aggressive for most Europeans. Arrogant, demanding and pushy. After a while she softens even though she still has a fair amount of energy.

The story is a bit different from the crowd even though it follows the basic flow of most Christmas movies where the two romantic leads are thrown together for a time and develop a relationship. There are no great highs or lows.

The acting is OK. The dialogue has good moments but otherwise is bland. The leads have some chemistry but nothing special.

A big draw of this movie for many will be the scenery and traditions. There is an amazing castle and views of the city from what seems to be miles above but probably only a few stories.

I often say that these movies often have trouble with realism. This one pushed it too far as far as the conflict and solution.